Aden Jefferies
'''Aden Jefferies '''is the son of Larry Jefferies and the brother of Sean and Justin Jefferies. He's the ex-boyfriend of Cassie Turner and Nicole Franklin. He's also the husband of Belle Taylor. Storylines Aden meets Cassie Turner and flirts with her. He ensures that her previous relationship with Ric Dalby is definitely over, then asks Cassie out. Her acceptance makes Ric jealous, so during a game of rugby, he tackles Aden so hard that he is knocked unconscious and hospitalised. Aden's brother Sean attacks Ric in retaliation, and when Aden recovers, he gives Sean a false alibi. Cassie discovers the truth and breaks up with him. Aden next appears as a rival of Geoff's on the school football team. Annoyed that PE teacher Tony Holden favours Geoff, Aden spikes Geoff Campbell's drink and locks him in the boot of Tony's car. Tony throws Aden off the team, so Aden vandalises Geoff's grandfather's farm, and bullies Geoff and his younger sister Annie Campbell. After a party Aden attends with his classmate Matilda Hunter, Cassie drives them home. She is under the influence of alcohol, and when Aden becomes high on marijuana and taunts her, she crashes. Aden sustains a leg injury that ends his chance of becoming a professional footballer. When Geoff refuses the chance to take up professional football, Aden intensifies his bullying of him. In return, Geoff punches Aden and knocks him out. Aden later helps an inebriated Annie, who has had her drink spiked. Tony and Geoff presume that Aden was responsible as he was previously involved in similar prank with Tamsyn Armstrong, and Annie lies to get Aden into trouble. The rest of the town believe he is to blame, so he seeks help from local lawyer, Morag Bellingham . Annie's guardian Irene Roberts hits Aden and injures his bad leg, which prompts him to file a claim against her. Annie admits that she lied, hoping that Aden will drop the lawsuit, but he refuses. He speaks to a journalist about Irene, which annoys Belle Taylor, Irene's lodger who is also a journalist. Belle writes an article of her own about Aden's war veteran grandfather, Stan, much to Aden's distress. He attacks Belle, sets fire to her article and cries. Alf Stewart tells Aden that he should behave in a manner his grandfather would be proud of. This upsets Aden, and he tries to cause trouble at school. When Cassie discovers she has HIV, Aden becomes irate at the prospect that she may have infected him in the car accident. After his tests come back negative, he cries in disappointment. His doctor, Rachel Armstrong, suggests that Aden may need counselling, but he refuses. When Aden's alcoholic father Larry throws him out, he is taken in by his friend Roman Harris. Aden is upset to learn that Roman was in the army like his grandfather, and visits the structurally damaged local diner to be alone. The ceiling collapses and Aden is seriously injured. In the aftermath, Larry tells Rachel that Aden was abused by his grandfather as a child. Aden cannot face going home, so moves in with Roman more permanently. He is attracted to Roman's daughter Nicole, but does not pursue her out of respect for Roman. Instead, Aden kisses Belle, but deflects her attempts to take things further. She goes on a date with Angelo Rosetta, which prompts a jealous Aden to admit that he could not sleep with her because of the abuse he suffered as a child. When Larry injures himself while drunk, he is found by his son, and admits that Aden's grandfather also abused him. Aden holds Larry, Rachel and Belle hostage so that his father cannot receive medical assistance, but they are rescued by Angelo. Aden is forced into counselling, and begins to come to terms with his abuse. Belle and Aden grow close again, and begin seeing one another in secret, as Belle is still dating Angelo. Aden's relationship with her deteriorates when Belle develops post-traumatic stress disorder after being attacked. She later refuses to leave hospital after being injured in a fire, and becomes addicted to the prescription medication that she takes for anxiety. Aden's feelings for Nicole are reignited, and they have sex several times before being caught together by Belle. Roman throws Aden out for sleeping with his daughter. Drug addict Liam Murphy deepens the rift between Aden and Belle, but they eventually reconcile and become engaged. In order to pay for a wedding ring, Aden takes a loan from corrupt bookmaker Clint, and loses several football matches on Clint's instruction. He refuses to ruin Geoff's career by injuring him, however, so Clint has Aden beaten up. Belle learns that she has terminal cancer and pushes the wedding forward, but does not tell Aden. He is devastated to learn of her condition the day before the ceremony, but is convinced to go ahead with the wedding by Roman. He and Belle spend four weeks together as husband and wife before she dies. Following her death, Aden becomes reclusive. He eventually returns to work, and is saved by Geoff when he almost drowns in an accident, which results in them becoming friends. Several months after Belle's death, Aden and Nicole begin a relationship, which becomes strained when Nicole tells him that she loves him, but Aden does not return the sentiment. A repentant Aden pays Nicole more attention and they are able to get their romance back on track. Aden's brother Justin is involved in a car accident, which causes short-term memory loss, but prompts him to admit that he too was abused by their grandfather. He regains his memory, and recalls that Larry was in the car at the time of the accident. He and Aden find their father dead. Convinced that the police will think Justin killed him, Aden decides that they should bury Larry. The police become suspicious nonetheless, and the two are arrested for murder, until a phone call made to Aden's phone from Larry confirms that he caused his own death by irresponsible driving. Justin convinces Aden to move to the city. When Nicole refuses to go with him, he leaves anyway.